What Is Bell's Palsey??

Well good morning, Dad, CC and I have had quite a week, especially last Tuesday (early Wednesday am). Everything is fine now, but here is the scoop...

Last Tuesday I had an appointment at the dentist at 11:00 am to get two cavities filled on my upper right side. When the dentist was finished I went to get up out of the chair and the dentist noticed that I was not blinking with my right eye. He told me that, "he hadn't seen anything like that since medical school" (what is that supposed to mean?). He quickly chalked it up to the Novocaine shot and told me that if it didn't go away in a couple of hours to call him back.

So at 4:00 pm I called him back because there was still no improvement (in fact I thought it was worse, but didn't tell him that). I went in at 5:30 pm to see him and he poked around and still seemed to think that it was from the shot and that it would wear off by the morning. By this time I could barely blink at all and was having a hard time moving the muscles in my face. I wasn't as confident in the dentist's assessment, but then I don't completely trust doctors and I do know my own body. In any event we agreed that if my blinking and facial movement wasn't restored by morning that I would come back and see him. Yes, at this point I'm starting to wonder what good these little dentist visits are doing me.

At 10:00 pm that night (Dad and I already in bed) the dentist calls and tells me he has done some "research" on the matter. He wants me to go to ER right away because he thinks I may have had a stroke - or I could have Bell's Palsey. Okay, so we pack up CC and off to the ER we go. We get to the ER and the doctor there is equally, if not more, concerned that I have indeed had a "mini stroke". I assure everyone that I feel fine, but I'm told that doesn't matter with "mini strokes". They initially ruled out Bell's Palsey because - then - I still had some movement in my forehead and eyebrow. Evidently with Bell's Palsey it effects the entire one-half of your face. After spending some time with the ER doctor they did an EKG (routine procedure) and did an MRI. It was too late at this point to do a CT scan if I had a stroke at 11:00 this morning so we had to do the MRI.

Thank you Jesus, I did not have a stroke and in fact my brain looks great - good to know for future reference : ) The nice internal medicine doctor in the ER set us up an appointment with a neurologist for Thursday, set me up with steroids, gave me some eye goop to keep my eye hydrated and Dad and I headed home at 4:30 am. I'm so thankful the grandparents were able to come over and stay with CC since this wasn't the quick trip we initially anticipated.

On Thursday the neurologist quickly confirmed the diagnosis of Bell's Palsey and told me that there is a 90% - 95% that I will completely recover all my facial and eye movements. I should expect to see some improvement over the next week to three months. I'm hoping and praying for the sooner the better. It's hard to drink, I can't smile, it's hard to eat. We went out to dinner on Father's Day and people were staring at me because you can tell something is wrong. Mostly I'm just thankful that it wasn't a stroke or something more serious and that I will get better soon. In the meantime I'm trying hard to to be too vain about my appearance. Please pray for a speedy and full recovery from Bell's Palsey. Y

What is Bell's Palsey: Bell's palsy is a paralysis or weakness of the muscles on one side of your face. Damage to the facial nerve that controls muscles on one side of the face causes that side of your face to droop. The nerve damage may also affect your sense of taste and how you make tears and saliva. This condition comes on suddenly, often overnight, and usually gets better on its own within a few weeks. Source: http://www.webmd.com/brain/tc/bells-palsy-topic-overview